


Words to Live By

by antonomasia09



Category: The Strange Case of Starship Iris (Podcast)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Caught by the Bad Guys, Gen, Implied/Referenced Torture, Interrogation, Post-Episode: s01e05 The Carmen Gambit, Violet is in the next room screaming a lot, Yuletide Treat, but I didn't think it was enough to tag her in the character field
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-11
Updated: 2019-12-11
Packaged: 2021-02-25 23:48:47
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,302
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21754027
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/antonomasia09/pseuds/antonomasia09
Summary: The IGR catches up to the crew of the Rumor on Elion, and Arkady is taken for interrogation.
Comments: 5
Kudos: 20
Collections: Yuletide 2019





	Words to Live By

**Author's Note:**

  * For [jaggedwolf](https://archiveofourown.org/users/jaggedwolf/gifts).



> Happy Yuletide jaggedwolf! You said any combination of Arkady, Violet, and Sana, which I interpreted as any subset - I hope this is okay with you?

The handcuffs were heavy around Arkady’s wrists, and too tight to slip off even if she tried dislocating a thumb. They were humming a little too, enough to keep her on edge with the memory of the shock they’d delivered when Arkady had reacted to the sight of Sana getting knocked out by attempting to claw her way through the IGR troops in order to reach her captain. By the time Arkady was able to breathe again and force still-spasming muscles to lift her up, Violet and Brian were lying beside Sana. Krejjh wasn’t, but the soldiers were shouting and shooting at the Rumor, which was taking off. It left a billowing dust cloud in its wake that hid the ship’s trajectory until it was nothing more than a speck in the sky. 

The crew had been taken to the nearest station on Elion for processing and interrogation. Arkady didn’t think they were going to make it to an actual prison.

Still, the environment was familiar enough that every instinct was screaming at her to keep her head down, her shoulders hunched, don’t let the guards think she had an attitude. Instead, she made a point of scowling at the agent casually reviewing his notepad across the table.

Eventually, he looked up and regarded her thoughtfully, unimpressed by the intensity of Arkady’s glower. He nodded towards the panel of dark glass on the far wall, and there was a thump and a muffled cry from the next room. Arkady couldn’t help flinching at the sound of Violet in pain.

“Here’s how this is going to go,” the agent said, and Arkady glared harder, willing daggers to appear and shove themselves into his brain. None did. “I’m going to ask you questions, and you’re going to answer them. If you don’t, your friend gets hurt. If you lie to me, she gets hurt worse. If you try to escape, she gets killed, and we move on to the next hostage. The translator, I think; he looks like he’ll make satisfying noises when we break his fingers.”

Arkady pressed her lips together, not sure if she would prefer to throw up or to stab this man very thoroughly right now. 

“First question: where is the Dwarnian pilot?” 

Arkady hesitated. She needed to stall, to give Krejjh time to plan a rescue, or Sana time to build something explosive. But she couldn’t let them hurt Violet. “I don’t know,” she said.

A signal from the agent. A cry from Violet, louder this time.

“Let’s try that again. Where is the Dwarnian pilot?”

Arkady couldn’t breathe. “I don’t know,” she repeated.

A signal. A cry. 

Arkady snarled. “Why don’t you ask her the questions? Hurt me instead.”

The agent smiled a little. “That is precisely why. You’re the Chief Security Officer, are you not? That makes you the protector of your crew. So, protect her. Tell me where the Dwarnian went.”

Arkady shook her head. She _couldn’t_. “I don’t know where Krejjh is,” she insisted.

This time, Violet’s yell ended in a harsh coughing fit.

“I don’t know where they are,” Arkady whispered. “They were hiding on the ship. When we were captured, they took off.”

“Where would they go?” the agent asked. “What worlds are safe for them?”

That question wasn’t any better; Arkady couldn’t betray their allies. She wavered. She didn’t have to come up with a complete list; maybe the agent would accept just a name or two of someone who had screwed them over in the past. At the very least, it would take time for them to check those planets, right?

She took too long; Violet’s scream was cut off abruptly with a choking noise that was even more ominous. Arkady’s hands clenched into fists, the chains fastening her to her chair clinking as she pulled on them in vain.

“Porco maybe,” she said. “Or Svedja. They didn’t leave the ship much; it was always hard to explain why we had a Dwarnian on our crew.”

The agent nodded, accepting her answer, and Arkady very carefully didn’t let her relief show. “Next question: who is Ricky Q?” he said.

How the hell could the agent possibly know that name? Arkady had been alone with Sana when they’d discussed him. Had they been bugged somehow? How long had the IGR been listening to them?

Apparently her confusion and concern were showing, because the agent looked outright amused. Arkady’s blood boiled. She took a deep breath, trying to calm herself down. The last thing she needed was to snap at him and give the troops in the next room another reason to hurt Violet.

Fortunately, unlike just about anyone else he could have asked about, Arkady felt absolutely no compunctions about giving Ricky Q up to the IGR. Not after what he did to the Cresswin rebellion.

“He’s an asshole,” Arkady answered.

The agent looked unimpressed. “What is his connection to Sana Tripathi?”

“There isn’t one. Not for, I dunno. Ten years? Maybe more.”

“What happened ten years ago?”

“He left.”

“I see.” The agent jotted something down on his notepad. “And Campbell?”

Arkady tensed. She couldn’t betray Campbell. Not with how generous he’d been to the crew, how friendly he’d been to Krejjh. Not if she ever wanted to look Sana in the eye again.

What did the IGR know already? If they really had planted bugs somehow, they’d have heard the call with Campbell, and they’d know he was a forger based on Telemachus.

She tried bluffing anyway. “That’s a brand of soup.”

The agent’s expression darkened. There was no sound from the room next door, but that just made Arkady’s stomach clench tighter.

“Don’t play games with me,” he said. “Not with your friend’s life at stake.”

Arkady licked her lips and wracked her brain, trying to come up with something innocuous yet satisfying.

“He’s a forger,” she said. No harm giving them information they probably already had. “We do jobs for him sometimes.”

“Would the Dwarnian go to him for help?”

Arkady really, really hoped not. Given how little fuel the Rumor had left, it might not even be possible, but every other friendly planet was even further away.

“I don’t know,” she said, and apparently Violet was once again conscious enough to scream.

“Stop,” Arkady begged. “Please.”

“You can make it stop by answering my question.”

To her horror, Arkady could feel tears running down her cheeks, and she couldn’t duck her face enough to hide them. “Maybe,” she said. “They might try.”

“Excellent,” the agent said, utterly unaffected by the suffering he had caused. “I have more questions, but if you continue to persist in your lack of cooperation, I believe your friend will need some time to recover first.” Arkady glared at him, furious and frustrated and helpless. “We will resume in an hour.”

He got up and turned to leave.

“Wait,” Arkady called, and then cringed a little when he spun back around because you didn’t ever ask for the attention of the guards; she knew that. “Can I see her?”

“Hmm. Let’s make that an incentive,” the agent said. “Sit there quietly, behave and answer my questions when I return, and I might let you see her afterwards.”

Arkady could do nothing but nod, and then he left her alone in the room, practically vibrating with adrenaline that had no outlet. She tugged on her cuffs, her mind racing. Arkady couldn't count on Krejjh or Sana to get her out before the agent came back. She was going to have to come up with an escape plan herself. Another tug and a squirm in her seat, and she was able to get a grip on the wire sewn into her jacket lining and gently tug it out. She smiled grimly and got to work.


End file.
